US-based biotechnology developer Sentien Biotechnologies secured an undisclosed amount in series A funding on Friday from pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim and biotechnology firm Portage Biotech.
Boehringer Ingelheim invested through its US investment subsidiary, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund USA (BIVF).
Sentien’s lead product, Sentinel, is a treatment for acute kidney injury, a kidney failure that is sometimes caused by heart surgery. The funding will support a Phase 1 clinical trial for Sentinel.
Sentien received a $3m grant from the US National Institutes of Health in August 2014 to advance the treatment into the clinical stage. The company also secured other small business innovation research grants, though it has not disclosed financial details.
As part of the deal, Martin Heidecker, managing director of BIVF, and Greg Bailey, chairman of Portage, will join Sentien’s board of directors.
Heidecker said: “Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund is excited to make this investment in Sentien, who we believe has the potential to change the regenerative medicine space.
“In pre-clinical models, their lead product has shown strong potential to have a meaningful clinical impact in acute kidney injury, a significant unmet medical need, as well as other organ failure indications.”